Thom Bierdz, president of American Art Awards, the online art competition judged by 25 revered American galleries, today announced to Highlight Hollywood the international winners of the Manipulated Photography/Human Or Animal. These images had the most gallery votes in the 46th category of 52 categories total, encompassing painters, sculptors, digital artists and photographers.

1ST PLACE RON MORGAN “Birdfeeder”

2ND PLACE CAROLYN QUAN “Gentle Spirits”

3RD PLACE SKYLAR AUD “Peacock”

4TH PLACE SUSANNE BELCHER “A Conversation With Sol Lewitt II: I Like What I See”

5TH PLACE JOHNNY NICOLORO “Jordan And Des”

5TH PLACE DENNIS DOYLE “The Right Stuff”

6TH PLACE CAROLYN QUAN “The Beauty Of The Beast”

Originally from Mystic, Connecticut, Ron Morgan studied art at the University of Connecticut. Experimenting in all media, including pencil, charcoal & acrylic, and grew to be most passionate about his photography, using several cameras but preferring his Canon T4i. Living in Morongo Valley, California on a 5 acre ranch nestled high on a cliff with a view of the San Bernardino Mountains & the desert valley below, Morgan is an avid sky-watcher and patiently captures luminescent and dramatic landscapes in every imaginable hue. He’s especially fond of his collection of photos of lenticular clouds over the high mountains & surreal desert landscape.

Having previously lived in New England & Germany, where he served in the United States Air Force as a Cryptological German Linguist, Morgan has been enjoying the quiet desert life for 11 years, especially fascinated by the creatures who share his habitat. As he gently lifts tarantulas and various snakes with an innate trust and respect he says goes back to his partial Narragansett Native American heritage, his other hand presses the shutter button on his camera. Morgan desires to share the beauty of the Mojave Desert & has immortalized many of it’s inhabitants from Bighorn sheep to Rosy Boa Constrictors in their private activities, and has gained so much trust and affection from them, a family of roadrunners can typically be seen dining in his home along with him.

While Morgan spends most of his time in the Southern California desert, his love of photography takes him to other regions to photograph a diverse array of topography and wildlife. He has even Kayaked with & photographed five different species of whales off Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Whether in high mountain snow or sizzling hot desert he always has his cameras at the ready to catch the most austere weather photographs, the most endearing shots of the indigenous creatures and always has an eye out to capture nature’s beauty from interesting angles.

Morgan recently won a cash award in another contest and had three of his haunting images published in the Desert Sun Newspaper’s coffee table book, “Capture My Desert.”